Phomopsis heltanthi Munt. Cvet. et al. has become one of the economically most important diseases of sunflower. To study the different resistance factors in leaf and stem, 29 inbred lines and 100 hybrids from a factorial cross of these lines were investigated. Observations across two environments with artificial leaf infection and in one environment with natural infection were conducted in 1998. Petiole score was taken as an indicator for leaf resistance after artificial infection. Diseased stems were used as a measure of stem resistance after natural infection. No correlation was found between resistance in the leaf and stem. Resistance against Phomopsis in both tissues was mainly controlled by additive gene action. Heterosis was not important. While stem resistance of hybrids seems to be predictable from their parents, a low correlation was found between line per se performance and general combining ability (GCA) effects for leaf resistance.